Once Upon an Apocalypse
by Avril Lambert
Summary: The Disney World runs parallel to ours. But, some of the characters have been pulled into our world, which is now in a post-apocalyptic state. Though they want to return home, it's not like our heroes to abandon people in need. So, they team up with what few survivors they meet and fight for what little is left. ::I'm looking forward to working on this story so please R&R::


**This story is somewhat of an experiment; I've never written anything like it, but I'm kind of excited about it. So please let me know what you think.**

**This will consist of mostly of Disney characters, with only a handful of non-Disney characters. And one OC. Though, the OC does not belong to me. A friend of mine on here, Gaston's Huntress, created the OC for her story "A Hunter's Hero", but after a couple of discouraging reviews, she unfortunately abandoned the story. I thought her character would fit well in this story and asked if I could use her and she said I could. The OC's name is Kainda (pronounced: kah-een-da); Gaston's Huntress created her as Gaston's daughter and also Red Riding Hood, so that's also who she is in this story. Thank you, Gaston's Huntress, for letting me use your character and I hope I do her justice.**

**Please, everyone let me know what you think of this story. I don't know if it'll be as good as _The Souls of The Damned_, but hopefully it'll satisfy you while I work on the next _The Damned_ story. Please review and let me know what you think.**

* * *

It all started with the color purple.

Ariel had been swimming towards the surface when the light purple flash appeared out of nowhere. It wasn't bright or overwhelming; and when it surrounded her it didn't even hurt. It didn't last long either. But the worst part came when the flash disappeared.

Ariel was still under water, but now the water was thick and dark and she couldn't breathe. She struggled to swim and eventually broke through the surface. She collapsed on the shore and started coughing. She reeled in horror when she saw her hands were in a thick black liquid; like an octopus had inked all over her.

"Eric! Over here! Come quick!"

Ariel looked up as a young woman with short black hair hurried over to her. The woman knelt down in front of Ariel. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Ariel looked around. She had no idea where she was. Just beyond the sand she saw tall buildings, but they were nothing like the castles she had seen before; these buildings had broken windows and holes in them.

"Can you speak?" the woman asked her.

Ariel nodded. "Yes," she choked out.

"How on Earth did you end up here?"

"I…" Ariel's voice trailed off. "I don't even know where I am."

"You're in Los Angeles," she replied. "At least, what's left of it. Do you know _who_ you are?"

"My name is Ariel."

A young man came up to them and all Ariel could do was stare at him. He was more beautiful than any of the merman back home. He had thick dark hair and sky blue eyes. He held out a large towel and Ariel took it.

"My name is Gi," the woman said. "And this is Eric."

Ariel sat up and shock immediately consumed her when she realized she no longer had a fin and in its place were a pair of legs. "I have legs…" she muttered.

Gi and Eric exchanged looks. "Did you hit your head?" Gi asked.

Ariel ignored her. "What happened to me?" she cried. She frantically wiped at her arms to remove the black from her skin. "What is all over me?"

"It's oil," Eric told her. "It covers most of the ocean."

Ariel looked back at the ocean, but instead of seeing a sparkling blue surface, all she saw was black. Her heart sank. She carefully got to her feet. She wobbled a little bit, but managed to keep her balance.

"Um…" Eric quickly turned around.

Gi quickly grabbed the towel and wrapped it around Ariel's waist. "Come with us, Ariel; we'll get you cleaned up and give you some clothes."

_XXX_

After the purple flash faded, the first thing Rapunzel noticed was that she was lying on the ground. Before she opened her eyes and let logic worm its way into her head, she enjoyed the way the cool grass felt against her skin.

_I must have fallen out of the tower_, she thought. Her eyes flew open. How had she survived that fall? Was she hurt? She wiggled her legs and arms; satisfied that she wasn't paralyzed, she slowly sat up. There was no pain. She breathed a sigh of relief.

The relief ended abruptly when she felt cold steel against the back of her head.

"Get up and turn around," a female voice hissed from behind her.

Rapunzel did as she was told, but was instantly confused when she didn't see her tower anymore. Where was she? Rapunzel was also surprised to see the girl holding her at gunpoint was about the same age as her. She was wearing tight brown leather pants, with matching boots and corset. A red hooded-cloak was fastened around over her collarbone.

"Who are you and how did you find me?" Rapunzel demanded, trying to sound braver than she felt. "Are you after my hair?"

The girl gaped at her. "Why the hell would I want your hair?"

Rapunzel cleared her throat. "If you're not after my hair, why have you taken me?"

The girl was beginning to look as confused as Rapunzel felt. "I didn't _take_ you; you just suddenly appeared out of nowhere."

"I don't know where I am and if you didn't take me, then I don't know how I got here," Rapunzel admitted. "One second I was in my tower and the next I was laying here."

The girl hesitated, but lowered her gun. "Who are you?"

"My name is Rapunzel."

The girl stuck her gun in the holster on her belt. "I'm Kainda and you're in the wilderness of Washington State."

Rapunzel frowned. "I've never heard of Washington State."

"Well, I've never heard of the name Rapunzel."

"Kainda, I'm lost," Rapunzel told her, ignoring the comment about her name. "I don't know where I am or how to get home or even where home is from here."

Kainda studied her for a moment, then said, "It's gonna be dark soon. You can stay with my dad and me tonight and maybe we can find a way to get you home."

"Thank you."

_XXX_

Snow White had no idea how long she had been running. Though, it didn't seem like it hadn't been that long ago when the huntsman told her the queen sent him to kill her and told her to run. She had run through the dark and frightening woods for a while before there was a flash of light and she was suddenly in the desert.

Snow White kept running and eventually she came to another kingdom. It looked different than hers; there were strange looking buildings everywhere; some of them were falling apart and some of them had flickering lights covering them. Snow White was sure the kingdom had been abandoned and she wondered what happened to the king and queen.

Snow White stopped to catch her breath. She looked around, wondering if there was anyone still in the kingdom who could help her. It was then that she saw two monkeys running down the street towards her. Snow White had seen pictures of monkeys in books, but she had never seen one in person; they didn't live near her kingdom. Just how far had she run?

The monkeys stopped at her feet and she sat down in front of them, thankful to be off her feet. The smaller monkey scurried up her arm and nestled onto her shoulder. She laughed as its fur tickled her skin. The other monkey was a little bit bigger and was wearing… a vest and hat?

"How very odd to see an animal wearing clothing," Snow White commented. The clothed monkey squawked at her as if he understood her and was offended. "I'm terribly sorry if I've hurt your feelings," she told him. "I've come a very long way and I'm afraid I'm lost. And I've never seen an animal wearing clothes before."

"Suchi! Abu!"

The two monkeys perked up their heads and turned to look at a young boy running towards them. He stopped when he saw Snow White and blushed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "They can be a handful sometimes."

Snow White smiled at him. "Oh, it's all right."

The boy pointed to the monkey on her shoulder. "That's Suchi; he's very friendly. And that's Abu. He's… well, he's unique."

"And what is _your_ name?" she asked him.

"Ma-Ti."

"It's very wonderful to meet you, Ma-Ti. My name is Snow White," she said. "I've been running for a long time and I wasn't sure anyone was still living in this kingdom. I'm so glad to run into another person. Where is everyone else?"

Ma-Ti looked around sadly. "There aren't many of us left. But, if you need a place to stay for the night, you can stay with me and my friends. Aladdin and Jasmine are very friendly and I don't think they'd mind." He held out his hand and helped her to her feet.

"That's so kind of you, Ma-Ti. You won't believe the day I've had." Snow White brushed the dirt off her dress. "Ma-Ti? Where am I?"

"Las Vegas. Sin City."

_XXX_

The only thing Aurora was aware of were the lips on hers. Her eyes fluttered open and she was staring up at Phillip. He looked relieved.

"Aurora, you're all right."

Aurora sat up and looked around. She didn't recognize the area at all. "What happened? What was the flash? Where are we?" Her violet eyes grew wide. "Did Maleficent put another curse on us?"

"I don't know," Phillip replied. "All I know is that we were in the castle and then there was that flash and then we were here. At some point you fainted."

Aurora got to her feet. "Have you seen anyone else? My parents or your father?"

Phillip shook his head. "No one. There's a palace over there, though." He pointed across the street where a large white palace sat behind a gate. The grass surrounding the palace was brown and overgrown as if the servants hadn't tended to it in a long time. "Perhaps we can talk to the king and he can point us in the direction of home."

Phillip took Aurora's hand and led her across the street. They couldn't find a door for the gate, but one section was smashed and hanging low to the ground. They were just starting to walk over the fence, when a loud voice shouted out.

"Freeze! Don't move!" Phillip and Aurora spun around to see two men standing in front of them, pointing odd looking weapons at them. Both men were very muscular; one had black hair and dark eyes and the other hand blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Put your hands in the air!" the man with the black hair demanded.

"We need to speak to your king," Phillip told him, stepping towards them.

"I said put your hands in the air!"

"Sir, I am a prince!" Phillip declared. "And you will speak to me with respect."

Suddenly a deafening noise came from the man's weapon. The next thing Aurora knew, Phillip was screaming out in pain and there was a small hole in his arm with blood pouring out of it.

"What did you do to him?" Aurora cried. "Please! We're not a threat to your kingdom. We're just lost and need to find home."

The two men approached them and seized them. They pinned Phillip's and Aurora's arms behind their backs and put shackles around their wrists.

"I'm Staff Sergeant Li and this is Sergeant Smith with the United States Army," the dark haired man said. "On the count of trying to break into the White House, you're gonna have to come with us."

_XXX_

"Elsa, look! A reindeer!" Anna walked over to the reindeer and pet its head.

"Anna, we don't have time for this," Elsa grumbled. "We have to find out where we are."

For the last couple hours, Elsa and her younger sister, Anna, had been wandering around. A light purple flash had surrounded them earlier and the next minute they were someplace else. Having magic of her own, Elsa recognized magic when she saw it and she knew that flash had somehow transported her and Anna to this strange place. But she didn't know where they were.

"We're in a city," Anna stated.

Elsa looked around. It was dark now and there were hardly any lights. "Yes, but what city? And why is falling apart? And where are all the people? And _why_ are we here?"

"I don't know, Elsa."

"We need to find a place to stay for the night." A loud creaking came from above them and Elsa and Anna quickly dove out of the way as a large metal sign fell off a building and crashed onto the street. "Someplace safe."

"We could follow the reindeer," Anna suggested, pointing at the reindeer who was now walking away from them.

"We're not following the reindeer," Elsa seethed.

Anna brushed some dust off her dress. "Elsa. Reindeer don't live in the city. He must belong to someone. Maybe they could answer our questions and provide us with a place to stay."

Elsa rolled her eyes. She wanted to argue with Anna and tell her she was being ridiculous, but she had a point and right now they didn't have any other options. "Fine, Anna."

The sisters followed after the reindeer for a while until they came upon a building that resembled a castle. It was large and run-down like the rest of the buildings in the city. Parts of the building had large holes in it. There were many windows covering the building, but most of them were broken or boarded up. There was a sign dangling from the top that flickered and shot out sparks every once in a while. The sign said, _Drake_.

Elsa opened the door and she, Anna and the reindeer went inside. A few torches were hanging from the wall, casting a very dim light. They couldn't see much, but from what they could see it looked like this had been an inn at one point. But, now it looked like a war had taken place inside it. Broken objects lay strewn over the floor. There were holes and chipped paint decorating the walls.

"Sven! There you are, buddy!" A male voice called out.

Elsa and Anna stepped closer to each other as a young man walked down the stairs in front of them. He had messy blonde hair and his clothes were torn and dirty. He looked up at Elsa and Anna and then back at the reindeer.

"Sven, who'd you bring back with you?"

Elsa cleared her throat. "I'm Queen Elsa of Arendelle and this is my sister, Princess Anna."

"Queen… Princess…" he repeated.

"We're lost," Anna told him. "Can you tell us where we are?"

"The Drake Hotel."

Elsa bit her lip in frustration. They were getting nowhere with him. "What is the name of your kingdom?"

"This isn't a kingdom," the man said. "We don't have kings and queens in the United States. This is a city. And it's called Chicago."

"You don't have kings and queens?" Elsa asked. "Then who governs you?"

The man leaned against the railing. "The president."

"I'd like to speak with him, please," Elsa said. "We need a place to stay for the night until we find our way back home."

"Sorry, ladies. The president lives in D.C.; which is 700 miles from here. It'll take you eleven hours to get there… if you have a car. And the president is a woman."

"We don't have a… car," Anna said. "What's a car?"

The man raised an eyebrow at them in amusement. "It's, like, a motorized carriage. If you're planning on walking there, it's gonna take you at least nine days to get there."

Anna looked over at her sister, not sure what to do. Elsa stepped forward.

"Like I said, we need a place to stay for tonight," Elsa told him. "You said this is a hotel… is that like an inn?"

He laughed. "Yes."

"Then we'd like a room. I'm sure we have some gold we could give you."

He held up his hand. "That's not necessary. Come with me."

The girls followed the man and his reindeer up the stairs. They came to a long hallway with no lights. It was so dark and scary-looking; Anna wondered if there ghosts or monsters living there.

"My name is Kristoff," the man told them as they continued up another flight of stairs. "And this is Sven."

"It's nice to meet you," Anna told him.

When they reached the fourth story, they saw it was well-lit and didn't look near as run-down as the rest of the hotel.

"This is where my sister and I live," he said. "There she is now." He pointed down the hall where a young woman with blonde hair gathered in a ponytail stepped out of one of the rooms.

She spotted them and walked over to them. "Kristoff, who are they?"

"Queen Elsa and Princess Anna… of Arendelle," he recited.

"What are they doing here?"

"We're standing right here," Anna said.

"I apologize," the woman said. "It's just that this city is full of dangerous people and-"

"I assure you, we mean you no harm," Elsa said. "We just need a place to stay until we can find our way home."

The woman nodded. "It's better if we stick together so we'll put you in a room near our rooms."

She walked over to a cart and picked up a key. "You can stay in this room. Our rooms are just across the hall."

Elsa took the key. "Thank you."

"My name is Linka," she said. "If you need anything just let us know."

_XXX_

The shadows seemed alive and there was a heavy feeling of dark magic in the air. Belle stuck as close to Adam as she could.

"I don't like this place," Belle said.

Adam put his arm around her. "It'll be all right."

There was a loud crash in an alley nearby as a man rifled through the garbage cans. Music was playing from somewhere a few streets over; it was unlike any music Belle had ever heard before. In a different situation, she would have found it pleasant, but that night it just sounded haunting.

They followed the music, hoping it would lead them to someplace to eat and rest. They ventured closer and closer to the water and eventually found a building that kind of looked like a large boat. It was all lit up and there was a sign that said _Tiana's Place_.

The two of them walked inside and were met with loud music. There were some people there, but not many. Unlike the rest of the town, this restaurant didn't look desolate. They sat down at one of the tables.

"Hi, ya'll," a perky waitress came up to their table. "I haven't seen you around; I thought I knew everyone left in New Orleans."

"We just arrived," Adam told her. "I'm Adam and this is my fiancée, Belle."

"I'm Tiana. Where ya'll from?"

"France."

A puzzled look came over her face. "France? That's impossible."

"What do you mean?" Belle asked.

"France has been uninhabitable for the last year or so. No one lives there."

"You're mistaken," Adam said.

Tiana bit her lip and shook her head. "Our Army bombed France, killing everyone and took what little resources they had left so we could survive. Furthermore, because of that attack, all of Europe has blocked all travel to and from their cities from here."

"Look, we don't know how we got here," Belle confessed. "One second we were home in France and the next we were here in…"

"New Orleans."

Belle nodded. "Right. We don't know how or why we're here. I've never even heard of New Orleans."

Tiana tapped her fingers on the back of her tray as she eyed them. "Sounds like you two have been through quite an ordeal. Let me get you some water and menus. Whatever you want is on me."

"Thank you so much, Tiana," Belle said.

As soon as she walked away, Adam turned to Belle. "You don't think it's true what she said about their Army attacking France and everyone being dead, do you?"

"I-I don't know. If it _is_ true, that would mean that it's been over a year since we were at the castle. Do you think it's possible that we blacked out and lost time when we saw that flash and then somehow ended up here?"

"I refuse to believe that," Adam said. "That's impossible. Plus, it would mean that our family and friends are dead. No, that can't be."

Belle couldn't help letting tears fall down her cheeks. "Adam, what's going on?"

Adam pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "I don't know."

"Here you go." Tiana set two glasses of water on the table and handed them menus. A man was with her now. "This is my husband, Kwame. I told him what you told me and we've agreed that you can stay with us if you need a place to stay."

"I don't know…" Adam said. "If what you said is true and your Army attacked France and killed everyone we know, how can we trust you?"

"It wasn't our _personal_ Army," Kwame said. "The order came from the President of our country; she lives over a thousand miles from here. Tiana and I had nothing to do with the attack."

Belle and Adam exchanged looks. "It would be nice to have a place to sleep tonight," Belle told them. "We're exhausted."

"I bet," Tiana said. "We'll be closing up soon and you can come home with us."

_XXX_

"Wendy, wake up!"

Wendy slowly woke up, blinking her eyes. A young man stood over her. He kind of looked like Peter… if Peter was seventeen.

"Peter? Is that you?" she asked.

"Of course it's me."

"Peter, you don't look like yourself… You're older."

"So are you."

Wendy sat up and looked down at herself. Her nightgown was entirely too tight and barely covered her. And she actually had a chest. Peter held out his hand to her and helped to her feet.

"What happened?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know. But, I bet that no-good Hook has something to do with this."

Wendy looked around. "You think?" They were standing on cracked asphalt, a few yards from an abandoned amusement park. "Why would he send us to an abandoned amusement park?"

"What's an amusement park?"

"It's a wonderful, fun place with rides and games and prizes and cotton candy," Wendy exclaimed. "But, by the looks of things this one has been closed down for quite some time."

"Let's check it out!" Peter grabbed Wendy's hand and pulled her towards the entrance. They ran passed a faded sign that said _Coney Island_ on it.

All of the rides and booths were rusted and broken and garbage littered the ground. "What happened to this place?" Wendy wondered out loud.

Out of the corner of her eye, Wendy noticed four figures surrounding them. "Peter…"

Peter noticed them, too, and pulled Wendy close to him. "Pirates!" he hissed.

"Don't move!" a female voice called out.

When they got closer, the lone street light cast a light over them and Wendy could see there was one woman and three men. The youngest man looked like he was the same age as she and Peter were now. They all were holding guns and had them aimed and Wendy and Peter.

"Who are you?" asked the man with dark hair and scruffy face.

"We're not afraid of pirates!" Peter declared.

"Peter, I don't think they're pirates," Wendy whispered. "I've never seen them on the Jolly Roger before."

The four strangers stopped only a few feet from them. "Who are you?" the dark haired man repeated.

"My name is Wendy Darling and this is Peter. Peter Pan."

"What are you doing here?" a young man with red hair asked.

"We don't know," Wendy replied. "We were just in the woods of Neverland and now we're here."

The woman stuck her two hand guns in the holsters strapped to her thighs and walked over to them. She ran her hands over them as if she was searching for something.

She then stepped back. "They're clean," she said. "I don't think they're with the Army."

"Well, I should say not!" Wendy stated. "Could you imagine a little girl fighting in a war?"

The men holstered their guns. "Where did you come from?" the boy their age asked.

"She just told you: Neverland," Peter spat. The question is: where are we _now_?"

"New York," the boy replied.

"If you don't mind me asking," Wendy started, "why are you in a closed amusement park?"

"We're in hiding," the boy said, as if Wendy should have known that.

"From who?" Peter asked.

"Jesus," the red-haired guy said. "Have you two been living under a rock for the last few years?"

Wendy was about to point out that they've told them twice now that they live in Neverland, but suddenly the ground started rumbling.

"Shit," the woman muttered. "Get to the funhouse!" She pushed Wendy and Peter forward and they followed the men to the other side of the amusement park to a building with a large, dilapidated clown face taking up the entire front of it. The three men ran through the clown's mouth and disappeared in the darkness.

Every fiber of Wendy's being fought against going inside a clown's mouth, but the woman was right behind her and she couldn't stop. She ran inside and immediately ran into one of the men. The woman stood just to the side of the entrance, with both guns in her hands. She stayed in the shadows, but peeked outside just as an impossibly large tank rolled passed, surrounded my several men with large guns. Wendy held her breath until the tank drove away, back towards the entrance of the park.

"That was way too close," one of the men said behind Wendy. He turned on a flashlight. "Follow us."

Peter took Wendy's hand in his as they walked further into the fun house. They only walked for a couple minutes before coming to a large room with mirror-lined walls.

"They must be onto us," the dark-haired man said. "We'll have to lay low here for a while."

"Looks like the two of you won't be able to leave," the red-haired boy said.

"Why not?" Peter demanded.

"If they see you, they'll take you," the younger boy said.

"Or kill you," the woman added.

"Is it because we're with you?" Wendy asked. She sank to the floor and Peter sat down next to her. "Who _are _you people?"

"Trust us," the woman said, "we're the good guys. My name is Meg." She pointed at the dark-haired man. "That's Flynn." She then pointed to the red-haired boy. "That's Wheeler." Finally she motioned at the younger boy. "And that's my kid brother, Jim."

"Why does the Army want to kill us?" Wendy asked.

"They're just under orders from the President," Flynn said. "But, long story short, it comes down to resources. The country is running out of food and other resources and the rich want it all for themselves- especially the government. So, they're killing off the rest of us by attacking major cities and other towns. That's why there's hardly anybody left."

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**A couple of notes...**

**One: I have never been to Coney Island and I have no idea if it has a fun house, but for the sake of my story, it does  
**

**Two: Gi, Ma-Ti, Linka, Kwame and Wheeler are all from the animated TV show, _Captain Planet_ (Wheeler also stars in my other story, _Why Are You Crying?_). You don't have to know anything about the show to follow this story. I just thought they would fit in well in our world and with some of the Disney characters.  
**

**Three: The rest of the chapters will not be this long. I just wanted to introduce all of the main characters and where in the country they are.**

**Again, please review and let me know what you think since I would like to continue this story.**


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